When two women went to a farm outside Polokwane in Limpopo to harvest discarded expired dairy foodstuffs, little did they know that they would end up being fatally shot and their bodies fed to pigs.
Mariah Makgato, 47 and 34-year-old Zimbabwean national, Lucia Ndlovu were accompanied by the latter’s husband when they were accosted by three trigger-happy farmers.
Due to persistent poverty within the farming community outside Polokwane, the discarding of expired food is a welcome relief but for Makgato and Ndlovu it ended in death.
When their families could not locate them after failing to return home on August 17, they panicked and alerted the police.
A community mobilisation and police intelligence-driven operation led the search party to Onverwacht farm near Sebayeng in the periphery of Polokwane, where the decomposed bodies of the two women were discovered in a pigsty.
The deceased were shot several times and subsequently thrown into a pigsty, where the ravenous animals partially devoured their bodies.
The man who was in the company of the deceased women managed to escape from the wrath of the vicious farmers and made his way to the nearby hospital, where he is currently receiving medical treatment.
Police subsequently arrested farm owner Zachariah Johannes Olivier, 60, and his co-accused, Andrian Rudolph De Wet, 19 and William Musora.
The trio appeared briefly in the Mankweng Magistrate’s Court on Friday and were remanded in custody until August 30 for profiling.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority, they are facing charges of attempted murder, possession of unlicensed firearm and ammunition and defeating the ends of justice.
The incident has received widespread condemnation from civil society and the political spectrum.
Makgato’s brother, Walter Mathole, said his sister’s death had left the family reeling with shock, unable to figure out how they are going to raise the four orphaned children.
“Living on a farm has many challenges, survival depends on discarded and expired foodstuffs. My sister went to the farm in a desperate attempt to provide for her impoverished family but instead was turned into food for pigs. We are still struggling to come to terms with the cruel manner in which my sister’s life was ended. It is so hard to accept that, especially her children” Mathole said.
ANC Women’s League leader in the province, Mamedupi Teffo, who attended the accused’s brief court appearance on Friday, said it was heart-rending to imagine the plight of Makgato’s young children who are now motherless. “As communities, we rally behind the family of the deceased and we intend to stage protests outside court to ensure that the accused do not get bail.”
DA spokesperson on community safety in the province, Marie Helm said the party welcomes the arrest of the accused and extended its condolences.
“We will closely monitor the case to ensure that justice is served,” Helm said.
AfriForum CEO in Limpopo, Kallie Kriel whose organisation has been vocal against the murder of white farmers, said they condemned all murders in the strongest possible terms, irrespective of the race of the victims and who the murderers are.
They should not have bail and thank you for the news
Will clover ever comment on their process of discarding expired goods? Will the abattoirs and or businesses that are supplied pork by this farm named? A farm that feeds its pigs people and destined for human consumption?